After making snares for customers - I made myself one to keep (finally).

Bubinga Hoops, Padauk Shell. Enjoy!

What a beautiful drum. The finishing and build give it a raw look, like it was hewn from an old barn, but it is obviously very finely worked. I could see this in a country band with a matching set, although I sure it would work in any application. What are the specs? I have a slit drum made of padauk and it is a very musical wood.

The clear plastic badge is a one-of-a-kind touch, very classy and I've never seen it before. Do you do this with all your drums?

After making snares for customers - I made myself one to keep (finally).

Bubinga Hoops, Padauk Shell. Enjoy!

I am astounded at your craftsmanship. Would you mind sharing a little on your technique? The shell is a tongue and groove, is it put together as sectioned octagon and then put on a lathe to turn it round?

I have asked questions of drum builders before and never get answers, I find it odd, even if they shared their build secrets, it still takes equipment and great knowledge and experience to still pull it off, so not sure what the big deal is.
Anyhow, amazing work.

Wow, they look like they have never been out to a gig. Is that the original front bass drum head? Cool old kit. I have owned a 1982 or 83 set with the wine finish and had a couple superstar snares including a white 8 inch deep one that was really nice.

What a beautiful drum. The finishing and build give it a raw look, like it was hewn from an old barn, but it is obviously very finely worked. I could see this in a country band with a matching set, although I sure it would work in any application. What are the specs? I have a slit drum made of padauk and it is a very musical wood.

The clear plastic badge is a one-of-a-kind touch, very classy and I've never seen it before. Do you do this with all your drums?

Thanks man! Appreciate the complement! I love Padauk. Mainly for its great deep red look, but it sounds great because it's one of the hardest woods I work with. I find it's harder than Bubinga and Jarrah. But unfortunately, because it is, staining / sealing takes twice as long!

I am astounded at your craftsmanship. Would you mind sharing a little on your technique? The shell is a tongue and groove, is it put together as sectioned octagon and then put on a lathe to turn it round?

I have asked questions of drum builders before and never get answers, I find it odd, even if they shared their build secrets, it still takes equipment and great knowledge and experience to still pull it off, so not sure what the big deal is.
Anyhow, amazing work.

Thanks man! Yep you guessed it. Glued and lathed. Depending on the timber, I sometimes source the shells from another secret supplier :P it's easier but a lot more expensive!

All bearing edges are routered. All holes by bench drill. All measuring by hand. I work on only a few drums at a time and I kinda treat each snare like my own. Keep my tolerances low and my customers happy!

You'd be surprised how easy it is if you're willing to put in a bit of time, effort and some money. But I'm sure some companies don't want to give away "secrets" because they have put many many hours and money into research and development to make a great sounding drum. To give someone else their R and D can cost them a lot of money. That's more than likely why they are a bit hesitant.

ALTERNATIVELY! Good old YouTube would be your best source of info because now there is loads of it posted on there :)

Wow, they look like they have never been out to a gig. Is that the original front bass drum head? Cool old kit. I have owned a 1982 or 83 set with the wine finish and had a couple superstar snares including a white 8 inch deep one that was really nice.

Bought these a couple weeks ago off my local Craigslist.
$575. (Includes the matching 14" tom not in the picture.)
Pictured:
24" kick, 13" rack tom 16" floor tom
A few dings here and there but these are in excellent shape for as old as they are.
Yes that is the original head.

You'd be surprised how easy it is if you're willing to put in a bit of time, effort and some money. But I'm sure some companies don't want to give away "secrets" because they have put many many hours and money into research and development to make a great sounding drum. To give someone else their R and D can cost them a lot of money. That's more than likely why they are a bit hesitant.

ALTERNATIVELY! Good old YouTube would be your best source of info because now there is loads of it posted on there :)[/quote]

Thanks to you, I post a lot of my builds on another site, will put put some over here. I do everything short of building the shells and I am at the skill level now that it is starting to pique my interest to see if I could actually do the whole shebang. I build furniture, paint helmets bikes and cars, and pretty well do everything on my own, chronic do-it-yourselfer. To a fault actually, sometimes i am so determined to do things myself, it ends up costing me more in tools, supplies and mistakes that i could of paid a pro.

My latest build is coming along. I am using antique snare hoop claws. I discovered they are nickel plated brass, so they will polish up to match the lugs and the throw off I have on order.
The wood spacers were hand made out of cherry to space the lugs perfectly out from the shell to fit the hoops.

My latest build is coming along. I am using antique snare hoop claws. I discovered they are nickel plated brass, so they will polish up to match the lugs and the throw off I have on order.
The wood spacers were hand made out of cherry to space the lugs perfectly out from the shell to fit the hoops.

My latest build is coming along. I am using antique snare hoop claws. I discovered they are nickel plated brass, so they will polish up to match the lugs and the throw off I have on order.
The wood spacers were hand made out of cherry to space the lugs perfectly out from the shell to fit the hoops.

My latest build is coming along. I am using antique snare hoop claws. I discovered they are nickel plated brass, so they will polish up to match the lugs and the throw off I have on order.
The wood spacers were hand made out of cherry to space the lugs perfectly out from the shell to fit the hoops.

Tried to register to take a peek, but message "registration disabled by the administrator" comes up. Ideas?

How long ago. They were having server problems, but it is straightened out now. Sometimes if you are using a free email (hotmail, yahoo, etc) it will go to the admin's spam box. I'm on couple of forums that don't allow freemail addys.

I would say try back...

__________________"Never take life too seriously, 'cause you'll never get out of it alive!!"My Dirty Little

How long ago. They were having server problems, but it is straightened out now. Sometimes if you are using a free email (hotmail, yahoo, etc) it will go to the admin's spam box. I'm on couple of forums that don't allow freemail addys.

I would say try back...

Thanks Latz, I tried yesterday, but I'll give it another go. Sounds like a forum I should check out. BTW, my ISP isn't an issue. Cheers, Andy.

That is really beautiful. Even unpolished and well-used. Spectacular drums.

Did the Yamaha mounts come with your Tamburo kit? I have a Proel-era ply Tamburo (not the same, I appreciate!) and it has generic Yamaha-style hardware. I could do with making the upgrade.

Well, the kit has been extensively played by the previous owner, and it shows its age! Nevertheless, the shells are still in perfect shape and the set has a beautiful, very focused sound. Actually, I already took contact with Tullio Granatello (Tamburo's founder, currently offering incredible drums under his new brand, Volume Drums) in order to make some maintenance work on the kit. Those who would like to know something more about Tamburo's story and Original sets shold visite his new site http://www.volumedrums.com.

Concerning the hardware: no, I bought it separately. The Yamaha style hardware offered by Tamburo (Proel era) was not bad, but original Yamaha is certainly better.

Jeff makes great drums and too great of a guy to try and pull a fast one....

LOL - thanks, Dave.

Just for the record, I took this photo this today in the shop. This is another bubinga shell (this one is stave construction) as the oil blend sealer is first being applied. You can see from the applicator cloth there's no dye or stain involved. But when admiring beautiful wood products, be aware that even clear finishes can dramatically affect the appearance of the wood. How those basic finishing processes are formulated and applied is huge. Yeah, I use stain tricks sometimes, but I'll tell you when. The bubinga shell in this photo is getting exactly the same process as that waterfall bubinga did. (Shot this with flash, so there's also no question about the color of the lighting.)

My snare now has hardware. I honestly thought black would be ugly on the snare. But it looks really nice. I changed my mind on using tung oil, I'll find something to protect the shell. But otherwise leave it alone.

Just for the record, I took this photo this today in the shop. This is another bubinga shell (this one is stave construction) as the oil blend sealer is first being applied. You can see from the applicator cloth there's no dye or stain involved. But when admiring beautiful wood products, be aware that even clear finishes can dramatically affect the appearance of the wood. How those basic finishing processes are formulated and applied is huge. Yeah, I use stain tricks sometimes, but I'll tell you when. The bubinga shell in this photo is getting exactly the same process as that waterfall bubinga did. (Shot this with flash, so there's also no question about the color of the lighting.)

This does appear to darken the wood quite a bit, as a stain does. The intent of this thread is to show drums that ave not been stained in any way and look as natural as possible. On the other hand, you have to treat the wood somehow to preserve it and I would think any oil, even a clear one, will darken the wood somehow.

I don't know much about woodworking/ What's the diference between an oil and a stain exactly? Does a stain protect and preserve the wood too?

This does appear to darken the wood quite a bit, as a stain does. The intent of this thread is to show drums that ave not been stained in any way and look as natural as possible. On the other hand, you have to treat the wood somehow to preserve it and I would think any oil, even a clear one, will darken the wood somehow.

I don't know much about woodworking/ What's the diference between an oil and a stain exactly? Does a stain protect and preserve the wood too?

No, a stain is just coloring, usually basically a watercolor or the same thing in an alcohol base. Oils seal and protect -- like tung oil, danish oil, linseed oil, teak oil, etc., and they will all have this kind of effect on wood, to a greater or lesser extent. Nothing terribly exotic, and used as finishes by themselves or with standard oil-based varnishes. Pretty much any time you look at fine furniture or cabinetry, that's what you're looking at. There are water-based finishes, most of which give a hazy blue cast to the wood. Sorry if I threw you off here, but this appearance change is perfectly normal and doesn't constitute re-coloring the wood. I'd venture to say that it has happened with almost every "natural" wood drum you've ever seen. If you saw a picture of any of the shells in this thread before they had a finish on them you'd see something radically different from the photos here. Raw wood isn't too exciting to look at -- just like in a lumber store. It's the finishing that makes it sing.

But if it helps, here's a basic steambent maple snare, with exactly the same finishing technique and materials. My guess is you'd accept this as a "natural" look.

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathmetalconga

I think natural wood calls for more exact building technique. You can't hide any boo-boos with stain.

Oh, and I'm not sure what sort of mistakes could be hidden with stain, but I don't sell drums with hidden mistakes. Just want to be clear about that. :) Even when I use stains, they're not there to hide anything.

And sorry -- didn't meant to hijack your thread with a discussion about finishing techniques -- only trying to respond to your doubts.